


The Best Way to Help Out

by outerink



Series: fusionverse [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Fusion, Humor, M/M, Passive Nightmare, Some angst?, Uncorrupted Nightmare, balance, i love them, my two babies fused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outerink/pseuds/outerink
Summary: Ink and Nightmare end up becoming good friends.
Relationships: Ink/Nightmare, Inkmare - Relationship, Nightmare/Ink, Sans/Sans (Undertale), nightink
Series: fusionverse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846840
Comments: 3
Kudos: 106





	The Best Way to Help Out

**Author's Note:**

> TW: there may be some graphic descriptions of violence at first? just a warning

Today was going to be different.

A few hours had passed since Dream first left him to go to the village. Usually he would just sit and wait for his brother’s return all day, occasionally reading or napping to pass the time. When he realized that he forgot to tell Dream what book he wanted to read next, he got determined to get it by himself. 

There was a small library within the village. It was located between what the villages called a ‘daycare’ and a clothing store. Nothing about it stood out nowadays, but when he was a lot younger it was the most visited place in town. Besides that was the fact that this library stored what may just be the oldest books in the entire world. They were fragile and easy to tear, but with gentle handling and care they could make for a really great read.

Typically he would just tell Dream what book he wanted to read next. His brother would always bring it to him at the end of the day once all of his jobs in the village were complete. Although this was kind, he could take  _ hours  _ to return home. Nightmare, however, had finished his final book the day beforehand and was now left with nothing to do.

He faltered. Part of him knew that the villagers would catch him trying to sneak into the village, but the other part of him was convincing him that today might just be his lucky day. Hesitantly, he stood up and made his way down to the village despite what his logic was screaming at him. Maybe, just  _ maybe, _ he could find an opening and make a run for it. Fortunately, no one worked in the library. Once he made it there, he would be a lot safer. Getting back to the tree would be another challenge in and of itself, but he decided to just worry about that later. 

As usual, the villagers were all talking to one another. Children could be seen playing in the distance while their parents watched them. A couple were taking a walk with what appeared to be some kind of furry creature that most certainly  _ wasn’t  _ a dog or a cat. Dream was nowhere in sight but, judging by the large crowd surrounding one of the many buildings, he was probably healing someone. 

Slowly, he walked into the village before quickening his pace. He could see the library in the distance. Hastily, his jog turned into a sprint. Finally, when he was just about to open the door, he was pushed back.

Oh no.

He stumbled onto the ground and watched with wide eyes as a group of villages glared down at him, some wearing sadistic smirks on their faces while others just looked pissed off. From the looks of it, they were probably either teenagers or young adults. 

They had made him run into a gallon of paint and spill it  _ everywhere.  _ As soon as the other villages found out he was there, he would be blamed for spilling it.

“Nightmare,” One of the girls said with a snicker. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, “Don’t bother running. That’ll only hurt even more.”

She stepped forward, grabbing his arm and twisting it sharply. His throat closed up in fear and tears sprang into his eyes. He tried to pull away, but her grip on him only tightened.

“What did I just say?”

With that, she began to twist once again, this time much more slowly than the last. When Nightmare began to hear  _ snapping,  _ he cried out in pain, “Stop-!”

“And what’ll you give us if we do?”

He fell silent. She let go of him and took a step back, but there was no point in running away. Her other friends were now surrounding him, balling their fists and snickering at his fearful expression. 

“That’s what I thought,” She snapped, “It’s our time to play now. Maybe this time you’ll die from your wounds! The world would be a better place without you in it anyways.”

Tears ran down his cheekbones at her words. Before he could even call out for Dream, the group began to beat him up. He tried to ignore the loud ringing in his skull. It was a mistake to try to be brave. Lucky days were for good people and he  _ certainly _ didn’t fall under that category. 

When they suddenly stopped, he curled in on himself fearfully. Surely they were just going to do something much worse. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he certainly didn’t expect for someone to tap his shoulder. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, pal.”

That voice… it didn’t sound like it belonged to anyone familiar. Although he was scared, he looked up at whoever was hovering over him. With wide eyes, he realized that this was a skeleton. He certainly  _ wasn’t _ Dream, however.

“Who are you…?”

His question fell upon death ears. The stranger picked him up and watched as he finally gave in, dropping his head in defeat and passing out.

* * *

Nightmare found himself waking up in an unfamiliar place. His skull was pounding and his bones were sore. He looked around at his surroundings. Crumpled up papers were strewn about, stuffed animals covering the floor, paint-stained rug in the center of the room. It was the messiest he had ever seen a room be. 

He was laying down on some sort of soft cushion. A few blankets covered his sleeping form, providing warmth for him and replacing Dream. Although nice, he knew that these things didn’t belong to him.

Unhurriedly, he sat up. “Hello…?”

“Oh! You’re awake?”

The voice startled him. He looked to the side and saw the same skeleton who saved him earlier. 

Who was he? He was just a few inches taller than Nightmare was. Much to the embodiment of negativity’s surprise, his eyelights shifted between different colors and shapes every few moments. Although it sounded weird, he wanted to stare into them and count how many times they  _ could  _ change.

“Where am I…?” He set a hand on his skull and shivered. The stranger frowned, walking up to him and placing another blanket down in the pile he was under.

“Welcome to the Doodle Sphere! Well… technically, this is a house  _ within  _ the Doodle Sphere, but still.”

The  _ Doodle Sphere?  _ What an odd name! However, it fit the skeleton’s ‘aesthetic’ quite nicely. He had a stain on his cheek along with vials of paint on his sash. 

“Oh! I forgot to introduce myself,” He laughed, “Just call me Ink! That’s a good start…”

“Ink?” He parroted the name. It was odd, but his name wasn’t any better. “Okay? I’m Nightmare.”

For a moment, the other looked confused. Then he laughed, “Oh, right! You’re not exactly a Sans, are you?”

“A what?”

“A skeleton.”

This took him aback. Not many people knew about his or Dream’s ‘true forms’ or whatever people wanted to call them, “That’s right… So, why did you take me to your… Doodle Sphere?’”

Memories rushed back to him and he nearly groaned. How did someone know he was being beat up, though?

“What?” Ink looked confused. His eyelights shifted into question marks. “Did you call me on accident?”

“Call you?” This skeleton got weirder by the moment.

“You spilled paint, didn’t you?”

Did he? He thought back of what happened a while ago before nodding his skull, “Yes. They pushed me into a gallon of paint and I stumbled over it… why?”

“That’s how people ‘summon’ me! No, that sounds too creepy, not summon… call out to me. They spill paint and I help them with whatever they need help with,” He frowned, “I thought you spilled the paint so I could help you not get beat up.”

Nightmare leaned back, “Thank you for that.”

“I’ve healed your wounds as well,” Ink pointed out, “You had a lot of them… why were they hurting you?”

“Thanks again,” He crossed his arms, relaxing when he no longer heard any snapping, “I’ll tell you why, but only if you tell me who exactly you are.”

Ink lit up. “Sure!”

* * *

“...and that’s why I’m always alone,” Nightmare concludes.

Ink had said his story first and, as promised, the negative spirit said his in return.

“I hate being alone, too,” Ink set his pencil down. The two of them were laying down on the floor across from one another. At some point, they began to draw random drawings on some of the crumpled papers.

“How did you ever stop feeling lonely?” He asked, looking down at his picture with a frown. It was a doodle of the tree he had been guarding for his entire existence.

The colorful skeleton shrugged, “I started traveling the Multiverse.”

“Oh. I could never do that.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Guarding the tree, remember?”

Ink frowned, “Why can’t your brother watch it for a bit…?”

“He’s busy. When I get home he’s not gonna be too happy that I wasn’t watching it.”

“Oh, right.” He hummed, “You mentioned napping during the day, right?”

Nightmare nodded, curious as to what he was going to say.

“Maybe we can meet up at night sometimes and I can show you the Multiverse?”

His eyes lit up. Someone  _ really  _ wanted to spend time with him? “Sure…!”

Ink grinned, standing up and grabbing his paintbrush, “I think we should get you home n— HOLY SHOOT, YOU’RE SMALLER THAN ME!”

Little did he know that meeting Ink would later be the best decision of his life.

* * *

In Dreamtale, it was starting to get dark. Most of the villagers were inside of their homes now. Dream, too, was still in the village helping out one of the elders. Nightmare let out a sigh.

At least he had gotten the book he had been meaning to read. Dream gave it to him the day after everything happened. It was worth the wait, though, and he’d been reading it for the past couple of hours.

He was leaning against the side of the tree that was furthest from the village. The villagers didn’t want to see him and, quite honestly, he didn’t want to see them either. At this point, he just wanted Dream to return home so they could go to bed.

That’s why when a figure was seen running up to him in the distance, he got fearful. What if it was a traveler from another town that had heard everything about him? He always said he was used to the pain but, truthfully, he never could be.

Once he realized that it’s just Ink, he jumped up and set the book down. The guardian looked rather excited today for some reason. Well, he looked excited almost every time he went to get him. 

They had to be as quiet as possible so they wouldn’t be caught. Wordlessly, Ink opened up a portal and leapt into it. Nightmare followed in suit.

This time, they landed on Ink’s sofa. The taller skeleton ran off to throw up (like he almost  _ always _ did whenever they hung out) and Nightmare glanced around. Ink’s house was what the artist described as an “organized mess.” Had Dream been there, he would have been cleaning everything up already.

Ink left his art absolutely everywhere and never cared to pick it up. The ones he was more proud of would hang on the wall framed. Nightmare always found the picture of Ink defeating Error to be amusing. Apparently the glitch hadn’t taken too kindly to such a picture and cracked the glass protecting it. Even if he had never met the ‘walking Windows Vista’ he always found stories about him to be interesting, whether in a good or bad way.

“Okay!” Ink chirped once he had finished, “You said you wouldn’t mind going on a mission with me real quick, right?”

“I’m fine with anything…! I just want to explore the Multiverse with you, whether you don’t have a mission or you do.”

They leapt through the portal at the same time. 

Something about the universe they arrived in just felt…  _ off.  _ He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but as soon as they arrived there he felt a  _ ton  _ of negative energy. 

“Why is everyone so…  _ sad  _ here?”

Ink hummed, glancing at him before beginning their walk to Snowdin, “I always forget that you’re the embodiment of negativity! Of course you can feel how others feel…”

“I always forget you don’t have a SOUL,” Nightmare pointed out, “You may not have an aura, but just your eyelights alone expose you.”

“I get that a lot,” said the guardian with a low chuckle, “Maybe that’s what makes us such good friends, though!”

Honestly? Ink was right. He wasn’t able to feel emotions and, thus, Nightmare’s aura didn’t really affect him at all. 

When they got to Snowdin, Nightmare paused. The negative emotions were even  _ stronger  _ from here. Monsters ran around, frantically grabbing their things before running off.

“Nightmare… I’ve taken you to see a pacifist route, right?”

“A while ago, yeah.”

“Welcome to your first genocide route,” Ink said, grabbing his blue and purple vials. 

As he prepared, Nightmare’s eyesockets widened. This was a  _ genocide  _ route? With horror, he realized that these monsters would probably die at some point or another. 

When another skeleton spotted them and made his way over, Ink put his vials away with a frown.

“Ink,” Comic greeted, “You can fix this, right?”

“Ink can’t stop the player!” Nightmare pointed out. He remembered the other telling him that one day while frustrated.

“No, not the player. My house is glitching.”

Comic pointed behind him and, sure enough, the large house was seemingly cut in half.

“How the frick…”

“On it! You go get everyone somewhere safe. Don’t worry, we’ll stay out of the human’s way,” Ink nodded, determined to fix this.

And with that, the short skeleton teleported away. 

Nightmare followed Ink to the house and watched as he fixed it. Even with the other people gone, he could still feel their lingering panic. 

“Does that look okay?” Ink asked, tearing him out of his train of thought. The new half of the house was an absolute  _ disaster.  _

“I don’t think they want a rainbow house,” He replied, only for the other to mutter under his breath before trying to redo his mistake.

Although it was messed up, he could feel himself getting stronger from the leftover negativity. Still, he wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Dream was (the villagers all emitted strong positivity) but he wasn’t as weak as he was before either. 

“There, is that better?”

It was still a little too colorful, but it was better than the neon abomination that Ink made earlier.

“It’s better!”

He paused. Suddenly, a  _ strong  _ wave of bitterness hit him. Ink seemed to recognize it too, seeing as how he quickly grabbed his wrist and teleported away.

They ended up in a much darker place. The only light was coming from the blue flowers surrounding them. Nightmare’s eyelights filled with stars as he looked at them.

For some odd reason, they were whispering something to him.

“Ink, what are these?”

“Flowers.”

“I know  _ that,  _ I mean what kind of flower? Normal flowers don’t glow blue or talk.”

Ink took a seat next to him, “These are echo flowers! They aren’t speaking, they’re repeating past conversations that took place near here!”

“Where  _ are  _ we?”

“Welcome to Waterfall! The human won’t be here for a little while,” jokingly, he stretched his arms out. Nightmare relaxed.

“How did Snowdin know about the human coming to kill them already?”

For a moment, the artist said nothing. He sighed, laying down on his back and looking up at the ‘stars.’ “This universe will soon become an alternate universe. Comic won’t be Comic forever, one last reset and he’ll be in a new timeline.”

“Why?” Nightmare lay down next to him.

“The game glitched and gave him information that he wasn’t supposed to know yet. It’s no doing of Error’s, but  _ something _ happened here.”

Both of them fell silent, although it wasn’t awkward. They were enjoying the peace here. Neither of them got to relax often, so it was nice to finally be able to get a break from it all.

Normal universes such as this one were far different from the ones outcodes originated from. Sometimes he wished that he could come from a normal universe. The thought of him playing the role of Sans and Dream playing the role of Papyrus made him snicker. Nah, that universe would be an absolute disaster.

He glanced at Ink. Honestly, he felt bad for the guy. Ink wasn’t supposed to be an outcode at all. He came from an incomplete universe that forced him into being lonely for stars knows how long. When he admitted to shredding his own soul, Nightmare could practically feel the pain.

Part of him felt as though Ink would always regret that decision, whether he was on vials or not. How long had it been since he had last felt real emotions? No one could be too sure, especially because the artist forgot the date of when he did it.

_ “When I first got access to the Multiverse, I realized that there are so many more opportunities for me,” Ink admitted. Outertale’s night sky reflected in his eyelights as he spoke. The sight left Nightmare astonished and unable to reply. _

_ “I realized that I could help people become someone.” _

_ “I realized that I could save people from making the same poor decisions that I did.” _

_ “I realized that I could help people not feel so alone, even if everyone wants them to be.” _

_ At those words, Nightmare‘s breath hitched. Ink continued. _

_ “Night, I know that the Multiverse may want you to be alone, but I won’t allow it.” _

_ “You’ll never be alone because you have me! I’ll always be your friend and I’ll always be on your side!” _

_ The flustered skeleton averted his gaze. A violet blush had spread across his cheekbones. Ink giggled. _

_ “Aww, Nighty!” Ink had cooed with an annoying grin on his face. _

Nightmare wanted to give Ink  _ something.  _ The other had done so much for him by just being his friend. It would sound ridiculous to others, but Nightmare always believed that he would live his entire life hidden away in the shadows.

Because of him, he was able to be more confident and happy with himself. Not even Dream could give him that.

How could he pay Ink back, though? He wished he could somehow just help Ink feel again…

His train of thought was out to a halt when the entire universe started glitching and Ink  _ groaned. _

“It’s time to go home. Trust me, you don’t want to be destroyed by Error today.”

Before Nightmare could even say that he wanted to help, the floor beneath him turned into a portal and he dropped through it.

“Night, there you are!” Dream sounded relieved when he fell from the sky. “Why were you hiding in the tree?”

Why couldn’t he help Ink?

* * *

Nightmare rested his back against the wall as dark tears shed from his eyesockets. He brought his legs up to his chest and rested his arms on his knees.

He hadn’t seen his friend in months. This meant that he had been alone for quite a while now.

Today was probably one of the worst days in his life. Dream has been gone all day and the villagers had cussed him out again. As the days passed, he began to hate them more and more. 

“Nighty?”

The voice snapped him back into reality. He looked up, jaw falling open when he saw  _ him  _ again.

“Ink?!”

“The villagers aren’t worth your time,” the artist reminded him gently, “Whenever someone pushes you down, you just need to stand up again.”

He held out a hand to the negative spirit.

“...Where were you?”

“I’m taking you somewhere.”

Sighing, he grabbed Ink’s hand and let him help him up.

They went through another portal and ended up in some beautiful version of Waterfall again.

For hours on end, they did nothing but walk around and explore it. They spoke about life and about the gorgeous scenery surrounding them. Occasionally, they would stop and listen to the flowers. It was  _ gorgeous. _

**“INK!”**

Ink paused. He grabbed Nightmare and leapt into some foliage, “Uh oh…”

**“I. N. K,”** The voice was glitchy. They could hear an irritated groan in the distance,  **“WHY DID YOU PUT A GIANT** **_SUN_ ** **IN THE ANTI-VOID?!”**

The words made both of them snicker. Of course Ink would do such a thing.

“He’ll sense if we teleport,” Ink muttered with a frown. A few moments passed before his eyes lit up, “Let’s fuse?”

“W-what?! You want to fuse with  _ me?!”  _ He whisper-shouted. Ink nodded, smirking.

**“INK.”**

Ink looked at him with puppy dog eyes and Nightmare held back a groan.

By the time Error reached the foliage, all he could see was one skeleton.

“Who the  _ hell- _ ”

“I’m Dusk,” The stranger interrupted, standing up, “What do you want?”

_ “Dusk?!  _ I’ve  never heard that name before.”

“I’m new to this, Glitch.”

Dusk was an interesting combo to say the least. His left eyelight was a purple moon while his right changed shapes and colors similarly to Ink’s eyelights. He had a circlet as well, although the moon was slightly tilted and small star was carved into it as well. There was an ‘ink stain’ on the left side of his skull. 

His clothing was also fairly odd. What could be considered his underneath shirt was light violet while the sleeves were dark brown. A long, violet scarf that had pale brown star patterns on it was wrapped around his neck. His dark brown pants fell down into his violet boots that had messy yellow shoelaces. His sleeves were cuffed at the ends, revealing where the paint vials went.

Error looked over his odd choice of clothing with an unimpressed expression. “A new  _ anomaly?  _ Wel-”

“Me? An anomaly?” Dusk laughed so hard he started to  _ cry,  _ “We’re both anomalies here! I mean… just  _ look  _ at you! You’re a walking Windows Vista, aren’t you?”

He snickered when the glitch narrowed his eyesockets, “You know Ink. Where is he?!”

“I dunno!” Dusk chirped, “Calm down! You look funny when you’re mad!”

The other glared in return, groaning when Dusk playfully shrugged, “Tell me where he is before I rip your SOUL into  _ shreds-” _

“Why? That wouldn’t help the balance at all, now would it? Technically, it can also tilt if there’s too much  _ destruction  _ as well.”

“Shut up!”

“Sorry, no can do!” He chuckled, “You think you’re saving the Multiverse when, in reality, you’re just taking advantage of your position, aren’t you? You’re a destroyer, people won’t get too mad if you went crazy!”

Error had no response, instead just glaring at him.

“You know I’m right,” He purred, stepping up closer to the other, “I can  _ feel _ it. Your bitterness for everyone because… well, what happened to your universe deserves to happen to everyone else’s,  _ right?  _ Isn’t that your logic?”

_ “Shut-” _

Dusk wouldn’t blame Error if he was frightened by him. He wore a bright smile and spoke in a cheery tone, but the words he said weren’t so happy. 

“Already said that I can’t. What? I’m only just repeating what you think will fix this mess,” He glanced up at the stars again, “That bitterness is  _ very  _ strong. If I were you, I would work on getting rid of it. Who knows what could happen if your poor mental state got in the way of your job? You may even be shattered.”

“Are you an **_empath_** or something? I’m _not_ impressed by whatever you’re trying to show off.”

“I dunno, am I?” He hummed. “Maybe Ink is at his house. I doubt he wants you visiting, though. He may be a mess, but you’re far messier. I mean… just look at yourself! You’re a  _ glitch  _ that goes around destroying  _ other  _ glitches! You can’t even admit that you just destroy others so no one ends up like you did!”

The glitch struggled to find a way to reply. Dusk snickered, “How about you go home now? Maybe you can finally learn about self acceptance from the voices or something.”

Without another word, he left. Dusk stared at where he once stood before giggling. With Nightmare’s ability to feel people’s auras mixed in with Ink’s knowledge of the Multiverse, he didn’t even have to get in a fight today!

He paused for a moment before sighing, “Where were we again…? Ah, right! Should I… we…”

Dusk glanced over his form and hugged himself, trembling with uncertainty. He knew that it would be a good idea to unfuse before anything happens, but at the same time his components wanted to learn more about what it was like to be him.

It turns out that even when fused he couldn’t exactly feel his  _ own  _ emotions. Instead, he felt whatever someone nearby felt. Error had chosen a good word to describe this: empath. He was an empath of sorts, picking up on what other people felt and treating them as if it were his own emotions.

“Nah!” He shrugged, pushing himself off of the wall and grabbing his paint brush, “But what should we do… ohhh, I have an idea!”

* * *

“Who are you-?!” One of the villagers asked in alarm. Dusk shrugged again before continuing to throw toilet paper all over their houses.

That’s right. He had been pranking the villagers ever since he returned to Dreamtale. The village was an absolute mess and it made him laugh. Finally, Nightmare could get revenge in a non-harmful way!

“N-Nightmare?”

Dusk turned around and paused when he saw Dream. The other was a few inches shorter than him. The positive spirit seemed curious yet confused. When they made eye contact, he startled.

“Oh, sorry! I mistook you for my brother! You two have similar auras, that’s all…”

The fusion laughed and kneeled down before hugging Dream, who quickly hugged back. He must’ve been worried.

“Of course we have similar auras. I  _ have  _ his aura.”

Dream looked confused for a moment before his eyes lit up, “N-Nighty?! You  _ fused?!” _

“Dusk,” he corrected before nodding, “But yeah, he did.”

They chuckled at Dream’s amazed expression. 

_ He would have to fuse again sometime. _

**Author's Note:**

> my babies fused into a mega baby. i love he.  
> my tumblr: outerink


End file.
